Brick-kiln



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. 0. 0. PHILLIPS.

V BRIGK KILN. No. 342,926. Patentad June 1, 1886.

: No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

0. O. PHILLIPS.

BRICK KILN. I No. 342,926. Patented June 1, 1886 ArnNr rrrcn.

OLIVER O. PHILLIPS, ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

BRICK-KILN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,926, dated June 1,1886. Application filed October 10, 1885. Serial No. 179,501. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER O. PHrLLrrs, of Allegheny City, in the countyof Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Brick-Kilns; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description thereof;

My invention relates to kilns for burning brick and similar articles,these kilns be ing generally formed of two side walls and an end wall,and the brick to be burned being built within these walls, the brick atthe base of the kiln being formed into arches, through which the heatand flame enter from grates or fire-places placed in the side walls ofthe kiln at the end of these arches, or from gas-burners enteringthrough ports atthe end of the arches, and the bricks being laid ontheir edges in open courses above these arches to the top of the kiln,the open end of the kiln being closed by means of boards extendingacross it and supported in suitable manner, and sand or similar materialbeing filled in between these boards and the courses of brick closethereto, so closing that end of the kiln. In operating these kilns bothwith the ordinary coal or wood and with gaseous fuel it has been foundthat on account of the uneven distribution of the heat within the kilnthere were a large number of bricks which were not sufficiently burned,the heat and flame naturally passing up through the central portion ofthe body of the brick within the kiln, so that when the bricks in thecenter of the kiln were burned sufficiently the bricks close to thesides and at the ends of thekiln were only partially burned, and thesebricks were not so salable, there being in the ordinary kiln from eightto ten thousand of these partially-burned brick which had to be sold ata low figure, and were even then hard to dispose of. It was also foundthat as the brick in the center of the kiln were dried and burned morerapidly they would shrink more than the brick at the sides or endsthereof, and consequently would throw the brick within the kiln uponastrain, this sometimes causing the breaking of the brick or theirbending out of shape.

The objects of my invention are to obtain more uniformity in the heatingof the brick within the kiln, and in this manner to relieve the brickfrom the strain on account of the uneven burning; to reduce the numberof soft or partially burned brick within the kiln; to reduce the timenecessary in burning the brick, and to cause asaving in the amount offuel re quired.

To these ends my invention consists, generally, in a brick-kiln having,in addition to the firing ports or entrances extending through thekiln-walls at the base thereof and communicating with the ordinaryarches in the base of the brick to be burned, similar firing ports orentrances extending through the kiln-walls at any desired points abovethese ports at the base of the kiln, in combination with gasburnersentering through these firing ports, whereby the heat and the flame maybe applied directly to the brick to be burned in any part of the kiln,and the brick can thus be burned uniformly, the heat being appliedthrough these ports above the base to any part of the kiln where thereis liability of the partial burning of the brick and regulated asdesired, and on account of the greater heat obtained within the kiln thebrickbeing more rapidly burned, and substantially all the brick beingburned to a uniform color and hardness, while the heat necessary inburningthe bricks is applied without injuring the bricks below theseports, as would be the case where coal or wood or similar solid fuelwere introduced through the ports.

It also consists in combining with the brickkiln walls above the basethereof and the gasburners entering through these firing-ports archesextending from these ports into or through the body of the brick to beburned, so as to direct and distribute the heat and flame into anydesired part of the kiln and cause the more even burning of the bricktherein.

To enable others skilled in the artto make and use my invention,I willdescribe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, inwhich 7 Figure 1 is a cross-section of my improved kiln, and Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section of a portion thereof, the said sectional viewsbeing taken on the lines was, Fig. 1, and g 3 Fig. 2.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in .each.

The kiln is provided with the side walls,a,

and end wall, b,the walls being built of theordinary thickness andextending up to the ordinary height, though in some cases, on account ofmy improvements, the kilns may be made of greaterheight than theordinary brickkiln now in use. Extending through the brick-kiln at thebase thereof are the ports 0, communicating with the arches d at thebase of the kiln, the arches being built of the green or unburned brickand supporting the body of brick to be burned within the kiln. Enteringthrough these firing-ports c are the gasburncrs e, or,where gaseous fuelis employed, the gas-burners e entering through the ports, suitablegas-supply pipes,f, extending along the kiln-walls and communicatingwith the burners by suitable pipes having the valves f, therein tocontrol the supply of gas to the burners. at any desired points abovethese ports 0 are the firing ports or entrances 9, these firingportsbeing located in such position that the heat and flame from the burnerextending into the same shall rise into and be distributed through theparts of the brick to be burned, which, in the construction of the kilnsheretofore in use, have not been thoroughly burned, these ports beinggenerally located both in the side walls,c,and in the end walls,b,andthe heat and flame generated at these ports acting to heat the brickclose to the side walls and end walls of the kiln, and so acting to burnthe brick in these parts of the kiln,while the heat from the ports atthe base of the kiln passes up principally through the central portionthereof and acts to burn the bricks in this center portion of the kiln.Igenerally locate these flring-portsgin one or more series about fromone-half to two-thirds the height of the kiln,the ports being locatedbetween the ports at the base of the kiln, so that the heat and flametherefrom are distributed between said ports a and rise within the bodyof the brick, where the heat from the base-fines has not heretoforeacted to thoroughly burn the brick. Through these ports 9, above thebase of the furnace, I employ gaseous fuel,what is termed natural gasbeing well suited for the purpose, as, if coal or wood were employed atthese points in the upper portion of the kiln, the ashes or cinder fromthe kiln would be liable to drop through, and so mar the bricks to beburned through these ports, and, asit is desired to carefully regulatethe amount of heat introduced into the body of the brick from theseports in the upper part of the kiln, a better control of the heat may beobtained by the employment of gaseous fuel. For this purpose I employgas-burners I: at the ends of pipes entering through the ports andcommunicating with suitable gas-supply pipes, k, extending along thewalls of the kiln, the sup ply of gas to the burners h being regulatedby suitable valves, Z. If desired, however, these burners It may besupplied directly from the supply-pipes f at the base of the furuaee,and

Extending through the kiln'walls in some cases this is preferable,as theheat in the furnaces can be regulated and controlled by the operator atthe base of the kiln, and where, as in some cases I find it desirable,the ports are located at irregular intervals, the pipe-connections canbe better made from this lower pipe, f. In order to distribute the heatfrom these upper ports, 9, through aspecial part of the body of thebrick which it is desired to heat therefrom, I employ arches m,extendinginto or through the body of the brick to be burned, thesearches acting to direct the heated products into the special part of thekiln desired. The arches are generally made horizontal, but they may besloping, as shown at n, being built of steps in the brick-work, asillustrated, and the heat from these upper ports can thus be directedinto any part of the body of brick within the furnace.

When my improved kiln is employed for burning brick, the green brick tobe burned is built up within the kiln in any suitable manner, the portsgextending through the kilnwalls at any suitable points, and the archesleading from these ports being built to direct the heat and flame fromthese ports to any special part of the brick within the kiln asexperience in burning the brick will show to be most efficient. The heatand flame from the ports cat the base of the kiln enter through thearches d, at the base thereof, and rise through the open courses ofbrick in such manner as to burn the same, the heat from these lowerarches being principally distributed through the central portion of thebody of the brick and acting to burn them, as has been the case with thebrick- Y kilns heretofore i n use. Theheat and flame from the ports g,extending through the kiln-wall above the base thereof, are sodistributed that they wiliact to burn the brick in the parts of the kilnnot'sufficiently heated by the heat and the flame entering at the basethereof-such as close to the kiln-walls or at the ends of the kilnandthe arches leading from these ports 9, carrying the heat and flame moredirectly into these parts of the kiln which are not sufliciently heatedby the heat and flame at the base thereof. As the heat and flame thusenter the body of brick at different points in the upper part of thekiln as well as the base thereof, it is evident that the bricks aredried more rapidly and uniformly, and therefore shrink more uniformly,within the kiln, so that there is not the liability of straining thebrick during burning, and, as a more direct and higher heat can beapplied in all parts of the kiln, it is also evi dent that the brickscan burned more rapidly, a saving of from one-fourth to one-third of thetime necessary to burn'the brick being thus obtained.

IIO

On account of the distribution of the heat from the ports in the upperpart of the kiln through the parts of the brick not heated from thebaseof the kiln, it is evident that I am by my invention enabled to burnall the brick to the proper color and hardness,

and that I thus reduce or do away with the formation of soft brickWithin the kiln. Though a higher heat and greater proportion of fuel areemployed during the baking of the brick, yet, as this fuel is utilizedto a greater advantage and the time necessary to burn the brick isgreatly reduced. it is evident that I make a large saving in fuel.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A brick-kiln having a series of firing ports or entrances extendingthrough the kiln- Walls at the base thereof, and firing ports orentrances extending through the kiln-walls at any desired points abovesaid series of ports, in combination with gas burners entering OLIVER O.PHILLIPS.

Witnesses:

JAMES I. KAY, J. N. OooKE.

